The 'formidable opponents' of SpaceX, NASA in the race to conquer Mars

Check out the "athletes" in the race to Mars, in which new representatives from Asia are also formidable!

Friday, September 29, 2017, SpaceX's CEO, Elon Musk, revealed the latest developments in his dream of conquering Mars at the 68th International Astronomy Conference (IAC). in Adelaide city (South Australia).

But not only Elon Musk and his SpaceX company nurture this ambition, there are still "serious opponents" with Elon Musk in the world, they are also speeding up the space conquest race, the main destination is Mars, specifically:

1. NASA and Boeing (USA)

NASA is the brightest candidate in the race to Mars.(NASA photo).

The race to Mars began in the 60s of the last century, which was originally a dual-race race between the United States and the Soviet Union (now Russia) in the Cold War era which started out as the first photos. captured by the Mariner 4 spacecraft (USA) in 1965.

The Soviet Union also broke out immediately after sending an exploration signal to Mars. Even so, the United States still ran a step ahead when the probe Mariner 6 and 7 were successfully launched four years later, while the Soviet Union failed after two attempts to do the same.

By 1971, NASA was the first country to successfully launch the Mariner 9 spacecraft flying around Mars orbit, the Soviet Union still followed the US with the same success of the Mars 2 and Mars 3 ships.

Since then, these two countries have been fiercely competitive, but the United States has probably outstripped the Soviet Union and Russia later with impressive successes.

Unfortunately, ships like the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander all had trouble making NASA reevaluate their ambitions. Although more cautious because of the failures, NASA persevered in pursuing the Martian dream with the 2001 Mars Odyssey.

Another formidable representative from the United States was Boeing when it announced that it would defeat Elon Musk's SpaceX in the race to Mars.

Boeing claims to beat SpaceX.(Photo Beyond Earth).

Earlier, Boeing helped NASA defeat the Soviet Union in the Moon race. Boeing Muilenburg, Boeing's CEO, also eloquently announced at an event in Chicago: "I believe the first person to set foot on Mars. will go on a rocket of Boeing ".

Currently, the company continues to work with NASA to create the most powerful "Space Launch System" or Saturn V boosters to prop up the race later.

Now both NASA and Space X, Boeing are still US representatives on the race to space. The double-horse race has become the exciting race of many other participating "athletes" from Asia and Europe:

2. Representatives from Asia

a. UAE (United Arab Emirates)

The UAE will participate in the race to Mars.(Photo of The National).

In February 2017, the UAE announced its plan to build the first city on the Red Planet in 2117 through the Dubai Communications Authority.

Saeed Al Gergawi - Mars Program Manager at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) announced the plan at the Humans to Mars summit, Washington, DC.

b. India

India is the first Asian country to successfully launch the probe Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan ("Mars Train" in Hindi) from the island south of Shriharikota to Mars.

Indian Space Research Organization also said that each year the country has $ 1.1 billion a year for space programs, making the country a serious competitor. racing Mars.

c. China

China has shown its ambition to Mars in recent years.(Daily Mirror image).

The first representatives from Asia were Japan and China, but in 2003 Japan failed to bring it to Mars orbit despite being a technological powerhouse.

China then also failed with the Martian Yinghuo-1 probe, which made the China National Space Science Center decide to stop testing projects on Mars until 2016.

China only returned to the track with the ship will be launched in 2020 after India accelerated in the race against the world record by launching 104 satellites from a single missile.

In 2022, China's first complete space station (CSS) will also go into operation as a confirmation of the long-term strategy that China will not easily give up the track.

3. Representatives from Europe

a. European Space Agency (ESA)

Although the failure to bring the probe to Russia's Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) or the Schiaparelli ship landed on the surface of Mars to find signs of life in the Martian atmosphere.

This is part of the mission of ExoMars mission - a partnership between ESA and Russia's Roscosmos space agency in the future of conquering Mars.

b. Netherlands

The Netherlands also aims to bring people to Mars in 2027, announced by Mars One CEO, Bas Lansdorp.

Bas Lansdorp revealed plans to bring people to Mars in the next 10 years.(Photo: Mars One).

He said the selected group will live to life on Mars with 4 people for the first trip and each trip will be 2 years apart. However, this statement is said to be too extravagant and impossible because the cost for the project . is too poor!

As can be seen, the race to conquer the red planet is in more exciting stages than ever. Hopefully in the next decade, we will see the breakthroughs that organizations and countries promise.